How to find the Best Wedding Band for your Wedding in 2018

There’s so much to consider when it comes to hiring your live music wedding band! If you’re thinking about hiring a band or even a DJ or bagpipe player for your wedding, make sure you get the most out of them to guarantee your wedding party is unforgettable for you and your wedding guests.

10 Tips for Hiring Wedding Bands

Music for Scotland have put together our top 10 tips for hiring wedding your perfect live wedding band.

So sit back relax and check out our helpful advice to help you find your perfect wedding band!

Book Early

If you book your wedding band early you are not only more likely to get your first choice. The most popular wedding bands are booked 12-18 months in advance for key dates sometimes even 24 months! Also, the more popular live wedding acts become the more they will charge – it’s supply and demand, but if you book them early they are contracted to the quote they provide at the time of your booking.

Book via a Reputable Wedding Band Agency

Yes, an obvious one maybe but there are so many benefits, namely quick communication, pre-vetted acts, full terms and conditions and contracting. So if you are looking for the best wedding bands Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen have to offer then where better to start.

Wedding band agents also provide all the necessary insurance certificates for your venue, backup wedding bands in case of emergency, professional help and advice and lots of time saved searching though just one website rather than hundreds of individual ones.

Off-Peak Reductions

Have you considered booking a weekday wedding or even in the off-peak months? During the weekends in summer, the majority of our wedding bands could easily book themselves 15-20 times over with the amount of enquiries we receive from our wonderful customers. Yet during the weekdays or in October, November, January and February, the same acts will struggle to fill their diaries.

So think about an off peak wedding if your really want to book that wedding band!

Check the T&C’s

If you are booking professional wedding band via how we suggest in our 2nd tip for hiring the best wedding band possible then, they will provide a full contract along with terms and conditions. You should check these clearly and pay close attention to cancellation terms and any contingencies they have in place for emergencies.

Keep the Band Refreshed

The better your treat your wedding band, the better and more relaxed they will feel too. If you consider your band may have driven a couple of hours to get to your venue, then spent a further 1.5 hours moving around heavy equipment to set up and sound check,

Set them up with a nice quiet space for them to relax and get changed. Along with some food and drinks will ensure they give you the high-energy performance your big wedding day deserves.

Visit a Wedding Showcase

Scotland hosts over 28,000 weddings a year so the demand for top quality entertainment has never been higher. At Music for Scotland we believe that we offer a high quality blend of young, innovative talent as well experienced, versatile musicians whose overall objective is to make your wedding reception a night that you and your guests will never forget.

So why not take the opportunity to see a varied selection of top class wedding bands play all in the one evening?

Do you have enough Space?

There is no point in booking an 8-piece jazz band if you only have a small dance floor and an even smaller stage if any at all. At the same time, you don’t want your guests rattling round on a huge dance floor with only a wedding singer in the corner.

Think about the space you have to play with when booking your wedding band and imagine your guests in it before adding the entertainment.

Decide your Theme

Many modern day weddings are based around a particular theme – sometimes very general like ‘summer’, and some more specific such as ‘festival’ or ‘1920’s’. When considering entertainment for your wedding it’s a great idea to use it to augment your theme.

For example, if you are looking to play on the Scottish theme then hiring a ceilidh covers band that can play ceilidh music and do covers would be a great choice for your wedding.

Communicate

Keep in touch with your wedding band from the point you book through to the day itself. Things change (like UK weather if you were planning an outdoor performance!) , so everyone needs to be flexible. You might want the band to work around speeches (and use their microphone/PA), cake-cutting or other events you’ve got planned, so let them know.

Give Feedback

Lastly, give your wedding band feedback after your special day. This is useful for their development and let’s the band know where they need to improve to become the best wedding band they can be. If it is positive, it is a great promotional tool for them.

After all, you may have used others’ recommendations to come to your decision, so help those happy couples coming after you and leave feedback for your wedding band.

How to Choose a Wedding Band

How to choose a wedding band? When was the last time you hired a band? Far less a wedding band? Okay of you are a wedding planner then you might be used to this. Otherwise there’s a pretty good chance that you’ve never been responsible for booking live musical entertainment before.

As such, you may be looking around and wondering wildly where to start and how to choose a wedding band that will be appropriate for your wedding, keep your dance floor packed all night long, eh Lionel?!

4 key considerations to keep in mind are; budget, do your research, check out the bands music repertoire and do the logistics of everyone involved work.

Finding your perfect Wedding Band

We hope you enjoyed our latest blog post full of the best tips and guidance on how to find the perfect wedding band for your big day!